I have a painter/body man who did the body work on an Alpine for me- still a
bit of work left but its been in primer a long time- I'm pretty sure it will be
an Alger if I live long enough. Thanks Doug Jennings for the work you did. The
shop my buddy worked in was a family owned(3rd generation) Ford dealership. The
owner was one of the top sellers in southern IL. as he put not only his
customers first BUT also treated his employees with the same respect while
expecting work he could sign his name to. The body shop did quite well and had
a good reputation. Some years back the dealership invested in a computerized
frame machine. The main problem was no one knew how to operate it. My buddy ask
the boss if he could start attempting to straighten wrecks and soon they sent
him to a school that the machines manufactures taught. It wasn't long until he
could take what I would never have thought repairable and he was fixing the
wrecks. It told you where to weld
lugs on to pull, how much to push and although I wouldn't swear to it, I think
the machine also pulled and pushed fenders and other body parts- like I
mentioned, I saw cars drive away that I would have bet would have gone to the
masher for junk metal. Fixing the small differences in the two frame rails
wouldn't be hard to do if it was taken to the right shop and if prepared to
save time- like removing the front suspension etc, I'm sure the cost wouldn't
be so much. It was mentioned the car was originally repaired by Tiger Auto.
Doug Jennings restored Tigers while Tiger Auto worked on several foreign cars.
I dint know if Doug did the work but in my mind I see him telling the owner
what it would cost to be fixed right and I suspect he would have replaced the
bent frame rail from the front back- to the place the frame rail wasn't part of
the problem. I then see the owner deciding to take the cheaper repair and be
happy with extra shims.
My Mk1 broke a fulcrum pin and hit a deer- two separate accidents- the left
side has two shims instead of one and it has to be for the same reason. I cant
tell where the bend is but its obvious there is a slight twist somewhere and I
dint remember the PO telling me which accident created the problem- the fulcrum
pin or the deer. I'm not getting rid of the car. The front end alignment
doesn't wear out tires, so I will live with the extra shim.
Back to the Mk2-I think the buyer got a hellish of a deal. I do see him having
problems getting the car back to original but even without the stainless
molding, the car is a Mk2- one of only five hindered and some ever made and it
can be repaired I'm certain and IF he finds the right shop, I dint think there
are many man hours in tweaking the frame rails level and square. I remember
seeing a drawing of the measurements of an original Tiger and with those and
THAT computerized machine, that part is the cheapest of the problems to fix.
ALL of this is my opinion BUT if I had the money I would have bid at least 30k.
Of course I have a grill and spare air cleaner and steering wheel-- just
finding that stainless- OOPS there was some Aussie guys making it a few years
back- a bit expensive BUT they had some for sale at one time.
Someone mentioned the battery door- or fuel pump access door- did the Mk2 have
this door or was it eliminated when the fuel pump went to the trunk?? Thanks
for listening to my opinion(s) and responding to my question.
TonytheTiger
PS- I had the seller email me pics of the underneath- appears to be about 4
pieces of metal between the frame and the front suspension. I think I read the
cross member had been reworked BUT part of the problem could be there.
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